Friday, January 22, 2010

The West View at The Maratha has been the most satisfying culinary discovery in a while! This traditional western grill in Mumbai has an innovative concept that does away with the printed menu altogether. Marinated, herbed and spiced meats are tastefully laid out on a buffet-style counter as are the many appetizers. You can choose all that you like and the chef will grill the mix to your liking.

I started with a visit to the Cold Table and choose from a selection of artisan cheeses, fresh salads, and delicately fashioned vegetarian and meat-based hors-d'ouevres.

My waitress recommended I select the meats right away so they could have them grilled by the time I finish my appetizers. The long table full of meats looked mouth-watering as I went around trying hard not to be too greedy. :)

There were dozens of meats, seafood and other vegetarian stuff from which to select from. Every one of them looked good.

Then I sat down to sample my appetizers and the soup of the day, a clear sea-food soup. All the other tables were occupied by Westerners tonight. Not many Indians have developed a taste for the Western grill apparently, even in Mumbai. My soup was delicately flavored and the breads they put on the table were freshly baked too.

Finally, it was time for the real thing. The grill selections arrived and they were perfect! The Indian salmon with rosemary, cracked chilli and orange zest was very flavorful. The Andaman tuna with chives and cracked pepper was and interesting variation of taste.

The large Kerala prawns with chili and garlic rub was delightfully crunchy while the Japanese quail with sage and Jamaican jerk spice was suitably exotic. I ended with the New Zealand lamb chops with fine herbs and garlic pistou and the pork spare ribs with star anise and rosemary which was served seperately. Both were stand-out dishes and I had a strong temptation to repeat them!

I finished off with an apple pie. This was overall an outstanding dinner. I expect to be back here the next time I am at The Maratha. The menu keeps changing daily and in addition to those I sampled, they had Icelandic halibut, Arctic squid, wine-poached artichokes and much more.

The dining tables at West View are well spread out in the open and airy room. The ambiance is contemporary and chic. The restaurant itself was very quiet with few tables occupied at the time I walked in. Try this place if you are near Mumbai airport and have a few hours to spend during the evening. You won't regret it!

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@Vijayendra: Really? Didn't realize that. But now that I think back, all the waitstaff were women.

@Renny: Good to see you here my friend. I have been away from the blog for a while too.

@Harekrishnaji: Yes, very close to the International airport. It is in the ITC Grand Maratha hotel. Re: thalis, yes I have. I like the one at Shreyas. But I prefer South Indian thalis more - the kind I get in Saravana Bhavan, Chennai.

@indicaspecies: And every bit as delicious.

@papia: Thank you for the interest in my blog. But I do not put marketing info on my blog. As you can also see, my blog is ad-free.

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Traveller, Foodie and Gearhead. I have been part of the Great Indian Software Story starting as a programmer to most recently running R&D for global tech companies. I am married and live with my lovely wife and 11-year old daughter in Pune, India.